Display panel and display device

ABSTRACT

A display panel and a display device are provided. The display panel includes a first substrate having a step area; a second substrate disposed opposite to the first substrate, wherein the second substrate has a first surface facing the first substrate and an opposite second surface; a Chip On Flex (COF) disposed on the step area of the first substrate and including at least one ground pad; a conductive layer disposed on the second surface of the second substrate; and a conductive adhesive electrically connected to the conductive layer and the at least one ground pad.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/823,133, filed on Nov. 27, 2017, which claims the priorityof Chinese Patent Application No. 201710647291.7, filed on Aug. 1, 2017,the entire contents of all of which are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to the display technology and,more particularly, relates to a display panel and a display device.

BACKGROUND

Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are featured with various advantages,such as low radiation, compactness and low energy consumption, whichhave gradually replaced traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) displays andhave been widely used in flat-panel TVs, laptops, and other portableproducts.

An existing LCD panel often includes an array substrate, a color filmsubstrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the arraysubstrate and the color film substrate. Because static electricity isoften generated on the color film substrate when the display panel is inoperation, an antistatic film is desired to be disposed on the colorfilm substrate. The antistatic film is electrically connected to aground pad disposed on the array substrate, thereby discharging thestatic electricity generated on the color film substrate.

However, as the display technology advances, the resolution of thedisplay panel is getting higher and higher, more wires (such as datawires for transmitting data signals) are going to be disposed in theframe/border area (especially the lower frame area) of the displaypanel, and the ground pad also occupies a part of the lower frame area,which in turn enlarges the lower frame area (also called a step area)and is not favorable for narrowing the frame of the display panel.

The disclosed display panel and display device are directed to solve oneor more problems set forth above and other problems.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a display panel. Thedisplay panel includes a first substrate having a step area, and asecond substrate disposed opposite to the first substrate. The secondsubstrate has a first surface facing the first substrate and an oppositesecond surface. A Chip On Flex (COF) is disposed on the step area of thefirst substrate and includes at least one ground pad. The COF has afirst surface facing the first substrate, a second surface opposing thefirst surface, and a first side intersecting with the first surface andthe second surface, respectively. The at least one ground pad includes afirst component disposed on the first side of the COF. A conductivelayer is disposed on the second surface of the second substrate, and aconductive adhesive is electrically connected to the conductive layerand at least the first component of the at least one ground pad.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a display deviceincluding a display panel. The display panel includes a first substratehaving a step area, and a second substrate disposed opposite to thefirst substrate. The second substrate has a first surface facing thefirst substrate and an opposite second surface. A Chip On Flex (COF) isdisposed on the step area of the first substrate and includes at leastone ground pad. The COF has a first surface facing the first substrate,a second surface opposing the first surface, and a first sideintersecting with the first surface and the second surface,respectively. The at least one ground pad includes a first componentdisposed on the first side of the COF. A conductive layer is disposed onthe second surface of the second substrate, and a conductive adhesive iselectrically connected to the conductive layer and at least the firstcomponent of the at least one ground pad.

Other aspects of the present disclosure can be understood by thoseskilled in the art in light of the description, the claims, and thedrawings of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawings are merely examples for illustrative purposesaccording to various disclosed embodiments and are not intended to limitthe scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of an exemplary display panelconsistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 2A illustrates a top view of an exemplary display panel consistentwith disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary sectional view of an exemplary displaypanel along line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrates schematic views of exemplary COFs (Chip On Flexor Chip On Film) consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic view of an exemplary fan-out areaconsistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrates schematic views of other exemplary COFsconsistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-sectional view of another exemplary displaypanel consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 7A illustrates a top view of another exemplary display panelconsistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 7B illustrates a top view of another exemplary display panelconsistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 8A illustrates a cross-sectional view of another exemplary displaypanel consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 8B illustrates a cross-sectional view of another exemplary displaypanel consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 8C illustrates a cross-sectional view of another exemplary displaypanel consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary display device consistent with disclosedembodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 13 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 14 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 15 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments; and

FIG. 16 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of thedisclosure, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.Hereinafter, embodiments consistent with the disclosure will bedescribed with reference to drawings. In the drawings, the shape andsize may be exaggerated, distorted, or simplified for clarity. Whereverpossible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to the same or like parts, and a detailed descriptionthereof may be omitted.

Further, in the present disclosure, the disclosed embodiments and thefeatures of the disclosed embodiments may be combined under conditionswithout conflicts. It is apparent that the described embodiments aresome but not all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Based onthe disclosed embodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art mayderive other embodiments consistent with the present disclosure, all ofwhich are within the scope of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure provides an improved display panel. The displaypanel may comprise a first substrate having a step area; a secondsubstrate disposed opposite to the first substrate, wherein the secondsubstrate has a first surface facing the first substrate and an oppositesecond surface; a COF (Chip On Flex or Chip On Film) disposed on thestep area of the first substrate and comprising at least one ground pad,wherein the COF has a first surface facing the first substrate and anopposite second surface, and the at least one ground pad is disposed onthe second surface of the COF; a conductive layer disposed on the secondsurface of the second substrate; and a conductive adhesive electricallyconnected to the conductive layer and at least one the ground pad.

Through disposing the ground pad on the second surface of the COF (i.e.,the surface of the COF far away from the first substrate), the generatedstatic electricity may be released and, meanwhile, the area occupied bythe step area of the first substrate may be reduced, which may narrowthe frame/border of the display panel.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of an exemplary display panelconsistent with disclosed embodiments. As shown in FIG. 1, the displaypanel may include a conductive adhesive 14, a COF (Chip On Flex or ChipOn Film) 13, a conductive layer 19, a first substrate 11, and a secondsubstrate 12 disposed opposite to the first substrate 11. The COF 13 maybe bonded to a step area PA of the first substrate 11. The secondsubstrate 12 may have a first surface facing the first substrate 11 andan opposite second surface away from the first substrate 11. Theconductive layer 19 may be disposed on the second surface of the secondsubstrate 12. The step area PA may refer to an area of the firstsubstrate 11 which is not covered by the second substrate 12.

The COF 13 may comprise at least one ground pad 13 a. The COF 13 mayhave a first surface facing the first substrate 11 and an oppositesecond surface away from the first substrate 11. The ground pad 13 a maybe disposed on the second surface of the COF 13 (for example, the uppersurface of the COF 13 in FIG. 1). That is, the arrangement of the groundpad 13 a may not affect the electrical connection between the firstsurface of the COF 13 (the surface facing the first substrate 11) andthe first substrate 11.

The conductive adhesive 14 may be electrically connected to theconductive layer 19. In one embodiment, the conductive adhesive 14 maybe disposed at a junction of the first substrate 11 and the secondsubstrate 12 and, meanwhile, the conductive adhesive 14 may cover aportion of the conductive layer 19. The conductive adhesive 14 may alsobe electrically connected to the ground pad 13 a, for example, by wires(not drawn in FIG. 1) on the first substrate 11. Thus, the electricalconnection between the conductive layer 19 and the ground pad 13 a maybe generated.

When static electricity is generated on the second surface of the secondsubstrate 12 (i.e., the surface of the second substrate 12 away from thefirst substrate 11, for example, an upper surface of the secondsubstrate 12 in FIG. 1), for example, when static electricity isgenerated during the user operation of the display panel, the generatedstatic electricity may be transferred to the ground pad 13 a via theconductive layer 19 and the conductive adhesive 14, then released. Thus,the static electricity may be prevented from being accumulated on theupper surface of the second substrate 12, and prevented from beingdischarged inside the display panel to cause a failure of the displaypanel.

Meanwhile, because the ground pad 13 a is disposed on the second surfaceof the COF 13 (i.e., the surface of the COF far away from the firstsubstrate 11), the ground pad 13 a may not occupy the step area PA ofthe first substrate 11, which may reduce the area occupied by the steparea PA, increase the proportion of the display area in the displaypanel, and further narrow the frame of the display panel.

In the disclosed embodiments, COF (Chip On Flex or Chip On Film) refersto a package in which an integrated circuit (IC), such as a drivingintegrated circuit, is directly encapsulated on a flexible circuit board(e.g., a flexible printed circuit). In addition to COF, the integratedcircuit package in existing technologies also includes Tape AutomatedBonding (TAB), and Chip On Glass (COG), etc.

In particular, TAB refers to a package in which welds of the integratedcircuits and the bumps on the tape are automatically bonded together,which is featured with mature technology and high yield. However, onlythe integrated circuits are allowed to be disposed on the tape, the linespacing is usually greater than 40 μm, such as 75 μm, which may not beapplicable to products of high-resolution (1280*960 or higher). Incontrast, COF can provide a smaller line spacing such as 25 μm, and morecircuit elements (such as resistors, capacitors) may be allowed to bedisposed on the flexible substrate, such that COF may be applied to highresolution display panels in various sizes and, moreover, COF is alsofeatured with simple fabrication process and good flexibility.

COG refers to a package in which the integrated circuits are directlypressed onto the glass substrate of the display panel. The cost is lowand micro-scale line spacing may be realized, however, rework isdifficult, and the packaging area occupies a substantially large areaand, accordingly, the display area is substantially small. In addition,due to the expansion coefficient of the integrated circuits and glass,high temperature bonding may be likely to generate Mura resulted fromwarping. In contrast, COF arranges the integrated circuits on theflexible circuit board, which may enlarge the display area, facilitatethe rework, and reduce the maintenance cost and defective risk of thedisplay panels.

In the existing COF, in addition to the integrated circuits, othercomponents are seldom disposed on the COF and, thus, the utilization ofthe flexible substrate is relatively low. In the disclosed embodiments,through disposing the ground pad 13 a on the COF, the static electricitymay be prevented from being accumulated and, meanwhile, the utilizationof the COF flexible substrate may be improved. Through disposing theground pad 13 a on the COF rather than the step area PA, extra wires inthe step area PA may not to be introduced.

Thus, in the disclosed embodiments, through providing a COF package ofthe integrated circuits, and disposing the ground pad on the secondsurface of the COF (i.e., the surface of the COF away from the firstsubstrate), the area occupied by the step area PA may be reduced, andthe narrow frame/border of the display panel may be realized. Inaddition, the technical solution provided by the disclosed embodimentsmay be applied to display panels of various sizes, which are featuredwith wide applicability, easy rework, increased COF flexible substrateutilization, low maintenance cost, and low display panel defective risk.

FIG. 1 shows that the COF 13 includes two rectangular ground pads 13 a,which is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit thescope of the present disclosure. It should be noted that, the COF 13 mayinclude any appropriate number of ground pads 13 a, such as one, three,four, and the ground pad 13 a may also have any appropriate shapes, suchas a circular shape, an oval shape, a trapezoidal shape. The number ofthe ground pads 13 a and the shape of the ground pads 13 a may bedetermined according to various application scenarios.

The display panel may be a plasma display panel, a field emissiondisplay panel, a light-emitting diode (LED) display panel, an organiclight-emitting diode (OLED) display panel, a liquid crystal displaypanel, a quantum dots (QDs) display panel, an electrophoretic displaypanel, etc. Further, the display panel may include any appropriate typeof display panels capable of displaying videos and/or images.

The display panel may also include certain known structures. Forexample, when the display panel is an LCD panel, the display panel mayfurther include thin film transistors (TFTs) disposed on the firstsubstrate 11 (or called as an array substrate), and a liquid crystallayer sandwiched between the first substrate 11 and the second substrate12 (or called as a color film substrate). When the display panel is anOLED display panel, the display panel may further include OLEDs disposedbetween the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 12 (the secondsubstrate may be used as a cover plate). These certain known structuresare not explained in detail here.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the conductive adhesive 14 mayinclude a conductive silver paste or a conductive tape.

In particular, the conductive silver paste may be obtained by addingconductive particles (for example, silver powder) into a base resin, andthe electrical conductivity of the conductive silver paste may beimproved by increasing the content of the conductive particles (forexample, 70% silver powder or more). When the conductive adhesive 14includes the conductive silver paste, the conductive silver paste may bedripped on the display panel and cured under high temperature to bebonded to the second substrate, there realizing a stable electricalconnection.

The conductive tape may be a metal foil or conductive fabric having ahigh conductive back adhesive. The conductive tape may be formed by aconductive back adhesive and a conductive substrate, and may beelectrically connected to the conductor surface through an adhesivebonding. When the conductive adhesive 14 includes a conductive tape, theconductive adhesive 14 may be directly attached to the conductor layer19 and the ground pad 13 a, which is featured with simple process andhigh success rate.

FIG. 1 shows that the conductive adhesive 14 is directly electricallyconnected to the conductive layer 19 but indirectly electricallyconnected the ground pad 13 a, which is for illustrative purposes and isnot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

In another embodiment, the conductive adhesive 14 may be directlyelectrically connected to both the conductive layer 19 and the groundpad 13 a. A corresponding structure is shown in FIGS. 2A-2B.

FIG. 2A illustrates a top view of an exemplary display panel consistentwith disclosed embodiments. FIG. 2B illustrates an II′-sectional view ofan exemplary display panel in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosedembodiments. The similarities between FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2A-2B are notrepeated here, while certain difference may be explained.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the conductive adhesive 14 may cover not only apart of the conductive layer 19, but also at least a part of the groundpad 13 a. That is, the conductive layer 19 may be connected to theground pad 13 a through the conductive adhesive 14 only. Accordingly, onone hand, the electrostatic discharge path may be shortened, and thestatic electricity may be more efficiently released. On the other hand,connection wires may not have to be disposed on the first substrate 11,simplifying the wiring design of the step area PA and narrowing theframe of the display panel.

FIG. 2A shows that the conductive adhesive 14 covers only a part of theground pad 13 a, which is for illustrative purposes and is not intendedto limit the scope of the present disclosure. In another embodiment, theconductive adhesive 14 may completely cover the entire ground pad 13 a,as long as the conductive adhesive 14 is directly electrically connectedto the ground pad 13 a.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2A-2B, the orthogonal projection ofthe ground pad 13 a onto the first substrate 11 may be located withinthe step area PA of the first substrate 11.

In particular, the ground pad 13 a may be electrically connected to theconductive adhesive 14 at the step area PA. Because the COF 13 isflexible, to prevent the electrical connection between the conductiveadhesive 14 and the ground pad 13 a from being affected by the bendingof the COF 13 (for example, electrical connection failure, inparticularly when the conductive adhesive 14 is cured under hightemperature), the ground pad 13 a may also be disposed in the step areaPA. The spatial position of the ground pad 13 a may be fixed, therebyenhancing the stability of the electrical connection between the groundpad 13 a and the conductive adhesive 14.

In one embodiment, a plurality of first terminals 13 b may be disposedon the surface of the COF 13 facing the first substrate 11, and aplurality of second terminals 11 a may be disposed on the surface of thefirst substrate 11 facing the COF 13. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B,the plurality of first terminals 13 b may one-to-one corresponding tothe plurality of second terminals 11 a, and the plurality of firstterminals 13 b may be one-to-one electrically connected to the pluralityof second terminals 11 a.

Accordingly, the driving signals provided by the integrated circuit (notshown) disposed on the COF 13 may be transmitted to the first substrate11 through the first terminals 13 b and the second terminals 11 a,thereby driving the display panel to display images.

In certain embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3A, the pluralityof first terminals 13 b and the plurality of second terminals 11 a maybe arranged in a first direction D1, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2A,the first substrate 11 may have a first side 51 close to the COF 13 andan opposite second side S2 far away from the COF 13. Here, the firstdirection refers to the extending direction of the first side 51 of thefirst substrate 11, i.e., the side close to the COF 13.

Because the plurality of first terminals 13 b are one-to-onecorresponding to the plurality of second terminals 11 a, only the firstterminal 13 b will be described as an example.

In particular, as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3A, the plurality of firstterminals 13 b may be disposed on the first surface of the COF 13 (i.e.,the surface facing the first substrate 11) and, meanwhile, may besequentially arranged in the first direction D1. The plurality of firstterminals 13 b may include various types of terminals, for example, aclock terminal for transmitting a clock signal, a data terminal fortransmitting a data signal, a power supply terminal for supplying apower supply voltage, a ground terminal for a ground signal, reserveddummy terminals and other control terminals.

In general, the data wire, which is disposed on the first substrate 11for transferring the data signal between the data line and theintegrated circuits, is an important factor affecting the narrow borderof the display panel and, more specifically, in a second directionperpendicular to the first direction D1, the width of the fan-out areafor arranging the data wires is an important factor affecting the narrowborder of the display panel. To reduce the width of the fan-out regionin the second direction D2, the gap/interval of the data terminals inthe first direction D1 may be desired to be as large as possible. Forexample, different types of first terminals 13 b may be alternatelyarranged in the first direction D1, i.e., other types of first terminalsmay be disposed between adjacent data terminals.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the plurality of first terminals13 b may be arranged in a row in the first direction D1. In anotherembodiment, as shown in FIG. 3B, the plurality of first terminals 13 bmay be arranged in a plurality of rows in the first direction D1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic view of an exemplary fan-out areaconsistent with disclosed embodiments. The features of the disclosedembodiments will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 4, in addition to the plurality of second terminals 11a one-to-one electrically connected to the plurality of first terminals(first terminals are not drawn in FIG. 4), the first substrate mayfurther comprise a plurality of data lines DATA extending from thedisplay area. The data lines DATA may provide a data voltage to eachpixel in the display area.

The plurality of second terminals 11 a may be one-to-one electricallyconnected to plurality of data lines DATA through data wires, and eachdata wire may include a first portion extending in the second directionD2 and a second portion DL intersecting both the first direction D1 andthe second direction D2. The width of the fan-out area FA in the seconddirection D2 may be mainly determined by the second portion DL of thedata wire, because the length of the first portion of the data wire maybe substantially small in the second direction D2 and may be neglected.

As shown in FIG. 4, the distance between the connection points of twoadjacent data lines DATA and the corresponding data wires (for example,the length of the line segment AC) is p, the interval of data wires (forexample, the length of the line BC) is d, the distance between thesecond terminal 11 a and the electrically connected data line DATA inthe first direction D1 (for example, the length of the line segment AB′)is w, and the height of the second portion DL of the data wire in thesecond direction D2 (i.e., the length of the line segment B′C) is h.

The apex A is the connection point between the first data line DATA andthe first data wire in the first direction D1. The apex C is theconnection point between the second data line DATA and the second datawire in the first direction D1. The apex B is the intersection betweenthe first data wire and a vertical line from the apex C to the secondpart DL of the first data wire, the apex C′ is another end of the secondpart DL of the first data wire, and the apex B′ is the intersectionbetween an extending line of the apex A and the apex C and a verticalline from the apex C′ to the extending line of the apex A and the apex C

According to the similar triangular principle,

$\begin{matrix}{{\frac{BC}{AB} = \frac{B^{\prime}C^{\prime}}{{AB}^{\prime}}},} & (1) \\{{i.e.},{\frac{d}{\sqrt{p^{2} - d^{2}}} = \frac{h}{w}},} & (2) \\{{{{then}\mspace{14mu} h\mspace{14mu}{may}\mspace{14mu}{be}\mspace{14mu}{calculated}\mspace{14mu}{as}\mspace{14mu} h} = {w \times \frac{d}{\sqrt{p^{2} - d^{2}}}}},} & {(3).}\end{matrix}$

In practical applications, the interval of data wires d is limited bythe process conditions and the electrical parameters, and the minimuminterval of data wires d_(min) may be a fixed value.

According to Eq. (3)

${h = {w \times \frac{d}{\sqrt{p^{2} - d^{2}}}}},$when the interval of data wires d reaches the minimum value, the heighth of the second portion DL of the data wire in the second direction D2may be related to the distance p between the connection points of twoadjacent data lines DATA and the corresponding data wires (for example,the length of the line segment AC), as well as, the distance w betweenthe second terminal 11 a and the electrically connected data line DATAin the first direction D1 (for example, the length of the line segmentAB′).

In the disclosed embodiments, the distance p between the connectionpoints of two adjacent data lines DATA and the corresponding data wires(for example, the length of the line segment AC) may be determined bythe characteristics of the display panel itself, such as resolution andsize, which may be considered as a fixed value. Thus, through arrangingthe plurality of second terminals 11 a (i.e., the plurality of firstterminals 13 b) in the first direction D1 and, meanwhile, alternatelyarranging the second terminals 11 a of the same type, the distance wbetween the second terminal 11 a and the electrically connected dataline DATA in the first direction D1 (for example, the length of the linesegment AB′) may be reduced. Accordingly, the height h of the secondportion DL of the data wire in the second direction D2 may be reduced,the area occupied by the step area PA may be reduced, thereby narrowingborder of the display panel.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrates schematic views of exemplary COFs consistentwith disclosed embodiments.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5A, in a direction perpendicular tothe first substrate 11, the ground pad 13 a and the first terminals 13 bmay not overlap with each other. That is, when being projected to thefirst substrate 11, the orthogonal projection of the ground pad 13 a maynot overlap with the orthogonal projection of the first terminals 13 b.That is, the first terminal 13 b may not be provided in a region of theCOF 13, in which the region overlaps with the ground pad 13 a in thedirection perpendicular to the first substrate 11.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5B, a ground signal or a dummysignal may be connected to a region of the COF 13, in which the regionis an overlapping area of the first terminals 13 b and the ground pad 13a in the direction perpendicular to the first substrate 11.

That is, some first terminals 13 b may overlap with the ground pad 13 ain the direction perpendicular to the first substrate 11, and the firstterminal 13 b overlapping with the ground pad 13 a may be a groundterminal 13 c for the ground signal or a reserved dummy terminal 13 d(the dummy terminal 13 d may be connected to a dummy signal or may notreceive any signals).

FIG. 5B shows that the ground pad 13 a overlaps with only one groundterminal 13 c, or overlaps with only one dummy terminal 13 d, which isfor illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit the scope of thepresent disclosure. It could be understood that, the ground pad 13 a mayoverlap with the ground terminal 13 c and the dummy terminal 13 d at thesame time, and may overlap with any appropriate number of the groundterminals 13 c and dummy terminals 13 d overlapping with the ground pads13 a.

The features of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 6, and FIG. 6 illustrates across-sectional view of another exemplary display panel consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 6, there may be a gap formed between the COF 13 and thefirst substrate 11. When the conductive adhesive 14 is in a fluid state(for example, during infusion or high temperature curing), a certainportion of the conductive adhesive 14 may flow into the gap between theCOF 13 and the first substrate 11, such as a portion 14 a of theconductive adhesive shown in FIG. 6. Then when the first terminal isconfigured to overlap with the ground pad 13 a in the directionperpendicular to the first substrate 11, the first terminal may becomeelectrically connected to the ground pad 13 a through the portion 14 aof the conductive adhesive. That is, a short circuit may be generatedbetween the first terminal and the ground pad 13 a, which may cause afailure of the display panel.

In the COF shown in FIG. 5A, the first terminals may not be provided inan area overlapped with the ground pad in the direction perpendicular tothe first substrate 11 and, thus, in an area overlapped with the groundpad in the direction perpendicular to the first substrate 11, none ofthe first terminals will become electrically connected to the ground pad13 a due to the penetration of the conductive adhesive 14. Accordingly,a short circuit between the first terminal and the ground pad 13 a maybe prevented, thereby improving the reliability of the display panel.

In the COF shown in FIG. 5B, although the first terminal is provided inin an area overlapped with the ground pad in the direction perpendicularto the first substrate 11, the first terminal may be the ground terminal13 c or the dummy terminal 13 d. In particular, the ground terminal 13 citself has been provided with a same potential as the ground pad 13 a,and the dummy terminal 13 d may not generate electrical defects evenbeing short-circuited with the ground pad 13 a. Thus, the reliability ofthe display panel may be improved.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2B, the plurality of first terminals13 b and the plurality of second terminals 11 a may be one-to-oneelectrically connected through an anisotropic conductive adhesive 16.

Because the anisotropic conductive adhesive 16 is conductive only in thedirection perpendicular to the first substrate 11, but non-conductive inthe direction parallel to the first substrate 11, even the intervalbetween the adjacent first terminals 13 b/second terminals 11 a issmall, the adjacent first terminals 13 b/second terminals 11 a may notbe short circuited, thereby further improving the reliability of thedisplay panel.

FIG. 7A illustrates a top view of another exemplary display panelconsistent with disclosed embodiments. The similarities between FIG. 1and FIG. 7A are not repeated here, while certain difference may beexplained.

As shown in FIG. 7A, the first substrate 11 may further include aplurality of multiplexing circuits 77 disposed in a non-display area,and each multiplexing circuit 77 may include at least one first signalinput terminal 77 a and a plurality of first signal outputs 77 b. Inparticular, the first signal input terminal 77 a may be electricallyconnected to the second terminal 11 a (the electrical connection is notdrawn in FIG. 7A), and the first signal output terminal 77 b may beelectrically connected to the data line (for example, the data line DATAshown in FIG. 4). The at least one first signal input terminal 77 a ineach multiplexing circuit 77 may be arranged in the first direction D1.In the disclosed embodiments, the non-display area may surround thedisplay area DA.

The multiplexing circuit 77 may process the data voltage on a dataoutput channel of the integrated circuit included in the COF in atime-division manner, and then supply the data voltage to a plurality ofdata lines (not shown) through the first signal output terminals 77 b.

In particular, when the multiplexed circuit is not configured in thedisplay panel, the integrated circuit is often provided with n number ofdata output channels (n is a positive integer greater than 1 and equalto the number of data lines). When the multiplexed circuit is configuredin the display panel, for example, given the ratio of the number of thefirst signal input terminals 77 a to the number of the first signaloutput terminals 77 b is 1:3, the integrated circuit may only beprovided with n/3 number of data output channels. That is, both thenumber of the first terminals and the number of the second terminals maybe reduced from n to n/3 and, accordingly, the number of the data wiresmay be also reduced from n to n/3, thereby reducing the size of fan-outarea. Moreover, through configuring a reasonable wiring, theframe/border width of the display panel may be further reduced.

In the disclosed embodiments, through disposing the multiplexingcircuits on the first substrate 11, the number of data wires may bereduced, such that the data wires and the second terminals may bedistributed more sparsely in the first direction D1, the intervalbetween two adjacent first signal input terminals may be increased, thedistance between the second terminal and the corresponding electricallyconnected first signal input terminal may be reduced in the firstdirection D1. Accordingly, the overall height of the data wires in thesecond direction D2 may be reduced, thereby narrowing the frame/borderof the display panel.

FIG. 7A shows that each multiplexing circuit 77 includes one firstsignal input terminal 77 a and three first signal output terminals 77 b,which is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit thescope of the present disclosure. It should be noted that, eachmultiplexing circuit 77 may comprise any appropriate number of firstsignal input terminals 77 a and first signal output terminals 77 b. Theratio of the number of the first signal input terminals 77 a to thenumber of the first signal output terminals 77 b may be determinedaccording to various application scenarios, as long as the number of thefirst signal output terminal 77 b is larger than the number of the firstsignal input terminal 77 a. For example, the ratio of the number of thefirst signal input terminals 77 a to the number of the first signaloutput terminals 77 b may be configured to be 1:2, 1:6 or 2:6.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7A, the plurality of first signalinput terminals 77 a may be arranged with the same interval, and theratio of the number of the first signal input terminals 77 a to thenumber of the first signal output terminals 77 b may be configured to be1:3.

Provided that the minimum interval of data wires, as well as, thedistance between the second terminal 11 a and the correspondingelectrically connected first signal input terminal 77 a in the firstdirection D1 are constant, the height of the fan-out area in the seconddirection D2 (it could be understood that now the first signal inputterminal 77 a is electrically connected to the data wire by replacingthe data line DATA in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4) may be determinedby the minimum interval between two adjacent first signal inputterminals 77 a.

The minimum interval between two adjacent first signal input terminals77 a may be smaller than three times the distance/gap p between theconnection points of two adjacent data lines DATA and the correspondingdata wires show in FIG. 4 (for example, the length of the line segmentAC in FIG. 4). For example, the minimum interval between two adjacentfirst signal input terminals 77 a may be smaller than two times or onetime the distance/gap p between the connection points of two adjacentdata lines DATA and the corresponding data wires show in FIG. 4.

When the first signal input terminals 77 a are uniformly arranged at thesame interval, the minimum interval between two adjacent first signalinput terminals 77 a may be three times the distance/gap p between theconnection points of two adjacent data lines DATA and the correspondingdata wires show in FIG. 4. According to Eq. (3)

${h = {w \times \frac{d}{\sqrt{p^{2} - d^{2}}}}},$when the minimum interval of data wires, as well as, the distancebetween the second terminal 11 a and the corresponding electricallyconnected first signal input terminal 77 a in the first direction D1 areconstant, because the minimum interval between two adjacent first signalinput terminals 77 a increases, the height of the second portion of thedata wire in the second direction D2 may be effectively reduced.

For example, when the multiplexed circuit is provided in the firstsubstrate, the height of the second portion of the data wire in thesecond direction D2 may be approximately reduced to one third of theheight of the second portion of the data wire in the second direction D2without the multiplexed circuit. Accordingly, the height of the fan-outarea in the second direction D2 may be reduced, and the area occupied bythe step area may be reduced, which may further narrow the frame/borderof the display panel.

FIG. 7B illustrates a top view of another exemplary display panelconsistent with disclosed embodiments.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7B, in the first direction D1, thewidth of the COF 13 may be the same as the width of the first substrate11. The ground pad 13 a may be disposed on the COF 13. In the firstdirection D1, the COF 13 may be configured to have the same width as thefirst substrate 11. The first terminals 13 b and the second terminal 11a may be arranged at a substantially large interval in the firstdirection D1, respectively.

In particular, the first terminals 13 b may be one-to-one correspondingto the second terminals 11 a, such that in the first direction D1, thedistance between the second terminal 11 a and the electrically connectedfirst data input terminal 77 a may be reduced. Thus, according to Eq.(3)

${h = {w \times \frac{d}{\sqrt{p^{2} - d^{2}}}}},$when the minimum interval of data wires, as well as, the intervalbetween two adjacent first signal input terminal 77 a are constant, theheight of the second portion of the data wire in the second direction D2may be reduced. Accordingly, the height of the fan-out area in thesecond direction D2 may be reduced, which may narrow the frame/border ofthe display panel.

In one embodiment, in the first direction D1, the second terminals 11 amay be uniformly arranged at the same interval.

In particular, when the minimum interval of data wires, as well as, theinterval between two adjacent first signal input terminal 77 a areconstant, the height of the fan-out area in the second direction D2 maybe determined by the maximum distance between the second terminal 11 aand the electrically connected first signal input 77 a in the firstdirection D1.

When the width of the COF 13 is the same as the width of the firstsubstrate 11, and the second terminals 11 a are uniformly arranged atthe same interval, as shown in FIG. 7B, the distance between the secondterminal 11 a and the electrically connected first signal input 77 a maybe approximately zero in the first direction D1. For example, when thesecond terminals 11 a are one-to-one corresponding to the first signalinput terminals 77 a, and each second terminal 11 a is aligned with thecorresponding first signal input terminal 77 a, the distance between thesecond terminal 11 a and the electrically connected first signal input77 a may be approximately zero in the first direction D1. Thus,according to Eq. (3)

${h = {w \times \frac{d}{\sqrt{p^{2} - d^{2}}}}},$the height h of the second portion of the data wire may be approximatelyzero in the second direction D2, which may narrow the frame/border ofthe display panel.

FIG. 8A illustrates a cross-sectional view of another exemplary displaypanel consistent with disclosed embodiments. The similarities betweenFIG. 1 and FIG. 8A are not repeated here, while certain difference maybe explained.

As shown in FIG. 8A, similar to the display panel in FIG. 1, the displaypanel in FIG. 8A may comprise a conductive adhesive 14, a COF 13, aconductive layer 19, a first substrate 11 and a second substrate 12. Atleast one ground pad 13 a may be disposed on the COF 13.

Different from the display panel in FIG. 1, the display panel in FIG. 8Amay further comprise an upper polarizer POL, which transmits lighthaving a polarization direction parallel to the polarization directionof the upper polarizer POL. The second substrate 12 may have a firstsurface facing the first substrate 11 and an opposite second surface faraway from the first substrate 11. The upper polarizer POL may bedisposed on the second surface of the second substrate 12.

Further, the upper polarizer POL may have a first surface facing thefirst substrate 11 and an opposite second surface far away from thefirst substrate 11. The conductive layer 19 may be disposed on thesecond surface of the upper polarizer POL.

In one embodiment, the conductive layer 19 may be multiplexed as theupper polarizer POL. A corresponding structure is shown in FIG. 8B.

FIG. 8B illustrates a cross-sectional view of another exemplary displaypanel consistent with disclosed embodiments. The similarities betweenFIG. 8B and FIG. 8A are not repeated here, while certain difference maybe explained.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the conductive layer 19 may include not only aconductive material for guiding static electricity to be released, butalso a polarizing material that transmits light having a polarizationdirection parallel to the polarization direction of the polarizingmaterial. Accordingly, the conductive layer 19 may also be referred as aconductive polarizer, i.e., the conductive layer 19 may have both aconductive function and a polarizing function. Thus, an individualconductive layer or an individual upper polarizer may not have to beprovided, simplifying the manufacturing process of the display panel andreducing the thickness of the display panel.

FIG. 8C illustrates a cross-sectional view of another exemplary displaypanel consistent with disclosed embodiments. The similarities betweenFIG. 8B and FIG. 8C are not repeated here, while certain difference maybe explained.

As shown in FIG. 8C, the display panel may further include a protectivecover 88 disposed on the second surface of the second substrate 12(i.e., the surface far away from the first substrate 11). The protectivecover 88 may have a first surface facing the first substrate 11 and anopposite second surface far away from the first substrate 11. Theconductive layer 19 may be disposed on the second surface of theprotective cover 88. The protective cover 88 may prevent the displaypanel from being damaged by an external force, thereby improving thereliability of the display panel.

In the disclosed embodiments, the conductive layer 19 may be disposed ona light-exiting side of the display panel. To suppress the influence ofthe conductive layer 19 on the light emission/transmission of thedisplay panel, the conductive layer 19 may be configured to have a highlight transmittance

In one embodiment, the material of the conductive layer 19 may compriseat least one of indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, antimony tin oxide,and aluminum zinc oxide.

In particular, indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, antimony tin oxide,and zinc oxide aluminum are transparent conductive materials. When theconductive layer 19 includes at least one of indium tin oxide, indiumzinc oxide, antimony tin oxide, and aluminum zinc oxide, the lighttransmittance of the conductive layer 19 may be substantially high,which may allow the display panel to have sufficient brightness.

The thickness of the conductive layer 19 may be determined according tovarious requirements, such as the conductivity and light transmittanceof the conductive layer 19. In general, when the conductive layerincreases, the conductivity of the conductive layer 19 may be improved,and the capability to conduct the static electricity may be alsoenhanced. However, the light transmittance of the conductive layer 19may decrease as the thickness of the conductive layer 19 increases.

In the disclosed embodiments, to ensure both a desired lighttransmittance and a desired electrical conductivity of the conductivelayer 19, the thickness of the conductive layer 19 may be configured tobe approximately from 0.01 mm to 0.1 mm. In practical applications, thethickness of the conductive layer 19 may be determined according tovarious application scenarios, which is not limited by the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments. In oneembodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2A and 10, a display panel may includea conductive adhesive 14, a COF 13, a conductive layer 19, a firstsubstrate 11, and a second substrate 12 disposed opposite to the firstsubstrate 11. The COF 13 may be bonded to a step area PA of the firstsubstrate 11. The second substrate 12 may have a first surface facingthe first substrate 11 and an opposite second surface away from thefirst substrate 11. The conductive layer 19 may be disposed on thesecond surface of the second substrate 12. The conductive adhesive 14may be electrically connected to the conductive layer 19.

The COF 13 may include a first surface 132 facing the first substrate11, an opposite second surface 131 away from the first substrate 11, anda first side 133 facing the second substrate 12. The first side 133 mayintersect with the first surface 132 and the second surface 131,respectively. The second substrate 12 may further have a first side andan opposite second side. The first side 133 of the COF 13 may face thefirst side of the second substrate 12.

The COF 13 may include a ground pad 13 a. The ground pad 13 a mayfurther include a first component 21 disposed on the first side 133 ofthe COF 13. The conductive adhesive 14 may be electrically connected tothe first component 21. The conductive adhesive 14 may be configured orformed in any manner as described above in the present disclosure andnot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure herein.

As such, the conductive layer 19 may be electrically connected to theground pad 13 a. When the static electricity is generated on an uppersurface of the second substrate 12 (e.g., the opposite second surface ofthe second substrate 12 away from the first substrate 11) during theuse, for example, the static electricity may be transferred to theground pad 13 a through the conductive layer 19 and the conductiveadhesive 14, and then released. Thus, the static electricity may beprevented from being accumulated on the upper surface of the secondsubstrate 12, and prevented from being discharged inside of the displaypanel to cause a failure of the display panel.

Meanwhile, the ground pad 13 a is disposed on the COF 13, therebyreducing the area occupied by the step area PA of the first substrate,increasing the proportion of the display area in the display panel, andfurther narrowing the frame of the display panel.

FIG. 13 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments. In oneembodiment, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 13, a ground pad 13 a may furtherinclude a second component 20 disposed on the second surface 131 of theCOF 13. A conductive adhesive 14 may be electrically connected to thesecond component 20.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 13, the ground pad 13 a mayinclude a first component 21 and a second component 20, both of whichmay be electrically connected to the conductive adhesive 14. The firstcomponent 21 and the second component 20 may be an integrated structure,or may be two sub-ground pads mutually connected via wires. When thefirst component 21 and the second component 20 constitute an integratedstructure, as shown in FIG. 10, the first component 21 disposed on thefirst side 133 of the COF 13 may be exposed. Alternatively as shown inFIG. 13, the second component 20 may be disposed and extended on thesecond surface 131 of the COF 13, and bended at the first side 133 toadapt with the first component 21 disposed on the first side 133,thereby forming the ground pad 13 a. The embodiments as described hereinmay increase the contact area between the conductive adhesive 14 and theground pad 13 a, thereby accelerating the release of the staticelectricity and improving the protection from static electricity.

FIGS. 11 and 14 illustrate sectional views of another two exemplarydisplay panels along line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosedembodiments. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 14 according to the embodiments, aground pad 13 a may further include a third component 22 disposed on thefirst surface 132 of the COF 13.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 14, the ground pad 13 a mayinclude a first component 21 and a third component 22. The twocomponents may be an integrated structure, or may be two sub-ground padsmutually connected via wires. When the first component 21 and the secondcomponent 20 constitute an integrated structure as shown in FIG. 11, thefirst component 21 disposed on the first side 133 of the COF 13 may beexposed. Alternatively as shown in FIG. 14, the third component 22 maybe disposed and extended on the first surface 132 of the COF 13, andbended at the first side 133 to adapt with the first component 21disposed on the first side 133, thereby forming the ground pad 13 a. Invarious embodiments, the third component 22 disposed on the firstsurface 132 of the COF 13 may provide ground signal to the firstcomponent 21, thereby achieving the protection from static electricityand significantly saving the cost for manufacturing COF 13.

FIGS. 12 and 15 illustrate sectional views of another two exemplarydisplay panels along line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosedembodiments.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 15, a ground pad 13 a mayinclude a first component 21, a second component 20 and a thirdcomponent 22. The three components may be an integrated structure, ormay be three sub-ground pads that are mutually connected end to end viawires. When such three components constitute an integrated structure, asshown in FIG. 12, the first component 21 disposed on the first side 133of the COF 13 may be exposed, and the second component 20 disposed onthe second surface 131 of the COF 13 may also be exposed. Alternativelyas shown in FIG. 15, the third component 22 may be disposed and extendedon the first surface 132 of the COF 13, bended on the first side 133 andthe second surface 132 to adapt with the first component 21 and thesecond component 20, respectively, thereby forming the ground pad 13 a.In various embodiments, the third component 22 disposed on the firstsurface 132 of the COF 13 may provide ground signal to the firstcomponent 21 and the second component 20, thereby achieving theprotection from static electricity and significantly saving the cost formanufacturing COF 13.

FIG. 16 illustrates a sectional view of another exemplary display panelalong line I-I′ in FIG. 2A consistent with disclosed embodiments.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, the first substrate 11 may havea first surface facing the COF and an opposite second surface, and atleast one second terminal may be disposed on the first surface of thefirst substrate. The second terminal 11 a may be electrically connectedto a third component 22 of the ground pad 13 a.

For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the second terminal 11 a may beelectrically connected to the third component 22 through an anisotropicconductive adhesive 16. The second terminal 11 a may be a fan-outterminal of a display circuit or peripheral circuit disposed on thefirst substrate 11. In this case, the ground pad 13 a may provide groundpotential for the display circuit or peripheral circuit disposed on thefirst substrate 11, thereby exporting the static electricity in thedisplay panel and achieving the protection from static electricity.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 11-16, a display panel mayfurther include an upper polarizer (POL) disposed on the second surfaceof the second substrate 12 away from the first substrate 11. The upperpolarizer may have a first surface facing the first substrate 11 and anopposite second surface. A conductive layer 19 may be disposed on thefirst surface of the upper polarizer. The upper polarizer may beconducive.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 11-16, the conductive layer 19 may bedisposed between the second substrate 12 and the upper polarizer POL.The upper polarizer may be a low resistance conductor, providing a pathfor the electrical connection between the conductive layer 19 and theconductive adhesive 14.

The present disclosure also discloses a display device. FIG. 9illustrates an exemplary display device consistent with disclosedembodiments.

As shown in FIG. 9, the display device 900 may include a display panel910, which may be any one of the display panels according to thedisclosed embodiments. It should be noted that, in addition to thedisplay panel 910, the display device may also include some otherwell-known structures, which will not be further described here.

Further, the display device 900 may be any appropriate device includingthe disclosed display panel. The display device 900 may include but notlimited to a cellular mobile phone 900 shown in FIG. 9, a tablet, acomputer display, a display device in smart wearable devices, and adisplay device in vehicles, etc. As long as the display device comprisesany one of the disclosed display panels, the display device isconsidered to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

In the disclosed display panel and the display device, through disposingthe ground pad on the second surface of the COF (i.e., the surface ofthe COF far away from the first substrate), the generated staticelectricity may be released and, meanwhile, the area occupied by thestep area of the first substrate may be reduced, which may narrow theframe/border of the display panel.

Various embodiments have been described to illustrate the operationprinciples and exemplary implementations. It should be understood bythose skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited tothe specific embodiments described herein and that various other obviouschanges, rearrangements, and substitutions will occur to those skilledin the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus,while the present invention has been described in detail with referenceto the above described embodiments, the present invention is not limitedto the above described embodiments, but may be embodied in otherequivalent forms without departing from the scope of the presentinvention, which is determined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display panel, comprising: a first substratehaving a step area; a second substrate disposed opposite to the firstsubstrate, wherein the second substrate has a first surface facing thefirst substrate and an opposite second surface; a Chip On Flex (COF)disposed on the step area of the first substrate and comprising at leastone ground pad, wherein: the COF has a first surface facing the firstsubstrate, a second surface opposing the first surface, and a first sideintersecting with the first surface and the second surface,respectively, and the at least one ground pad includes a first componentdisposed on the first side of the COF; a conductive layer disposed onthe second surface of the second substrate; and a conductive adhesiveelectrically connected to the conductive layer and at least the firstcomponent of the at least one ground pad.
 2. The display panel accordingto claim 1, wherein: the at least one ground pad further includes asecond component disposed on the second surface of the COF; and theconductive adhesive is electrically connected to the second component.3. The display panel according to claim 2, wherein: the at least groundpad further includes a third component disposed on the first surface ofthe COF.
 4. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein: the atleast ground pad further includes a third component disposed on thefirst surface of the COF.
 5. The display panel according to claim 4,wherein: the first substrate has a first surface facing the COF and anopposite second surface, and at least one second terminal is disposed onthe first surface of the first substrate; and the at least one secondterminal is electrically connected to the third component.
 6. Thedisplay panel according to claim 1, wherein: the conductive adhesiveincludes a conductive silver paste or a conductive tape.
 7. The displaypanel according to claim 1, wherein: a plurality of first terminals aredisposed on the first surface of the COF; the first substrate has afirst surface facing the COF and an opposite second surface, and aplurality of second terminals are disposed on the first surface of thefirst substrate; and the plurality of first terminals are one-to-oneelectrically connected to the plurality of second terminals.
 8. Thedisplay panel according to claim 7, wherein: the plurality of firstterminals and the plurality of second terminals are arranged in a firstdirection, respectively, wherein the first substrate has a first sideclose to the COF and an opposite second side far away from the COF, andthe first direction is an extending direction of the first side of thefirst substrate.
 9. The display panel according to claim 8, wherein thefirst substrate further includes: a plurality of multiplexing circuitsdisposed in a non-display area; each of the plurality of multiplexingcircuits includes at least one first signal input terminal; the at leastone first signal input terminal in each of the plurality of multiplexingcircuits is electrically connected to a second terminal; the at leastone first signal input terminal in each of the plurality of multiplexingcircuits is arranged in the first direction; and the non-display areasurrounds a display area of the display panel.
 10. The display panelaccording to claim 7, wherein: in a direction perpendicular to the firstsubstrate, the at least one ground pad does not overlap with theplurality of first terminals.
 11. The display panel according to claim7, wherein: in a direction perpendicular to the first substrate, a firstterminal overlapped with the at least one ground pad is electricallyconnected to a ground signal or a dummy signal.
 12. The display panelaccording to claim 1, further including: an upper polarizer disposed onthe second surface of the second substrate, the upper polarizer having afirst surface facing the first substrate and an opposite second surfacefar away from the first substrate; and the conductive layer is disposedon the second surface of the upper polarizer.
 13. The display panelaccording to claim 1, further including: a conductive upper polarizerdisposed on the second surface of the second substrate, the upperpolarizer having a first surface facing the first substrate and anopposite second surface; and the conductive layer is disposed on thefirst surface of the upper polarizer.
 14. The display panel according toclaim 1, further including: an upper polarizer disposed on the secondsurface of the second substrate; and the conductive layer is multiplexedthe upper polarizer.
 15. The display panel according to claim 1, furtherincluding: a protective cover disposed on the second surface of thesecond substrate, the protective cover having a first surface facing thefirst substrate and an opposite second surface far away from the firstsubstrate; and the conductive layer is disposed on the second surface ofthe protective cover.
 16. The display panel according to claim 1,wherein: the conductive layer comprises at least one of indium tinoxide, indium zinc oxide, antimony tin oxide, and aluminum zinc oxide.17. A display device, comprising: a display panel comprising: a firstsubstrate having a step area; a second substrate disposed opposite tothe first substrate, wherein the second substrate has a first surfacefacing the first substrate and an opposite second surface; a Chip OnFlex (COF) disposed on the step area of the first substrate andcomprising at least one ground pad, wherein: the COF has a first surfacefacing the first substrate and a second surface opposing the firstsurface, and a first side intersecting with the first surface and thesecond surface, respectively, and the at least one ground pad includes afirst component disposed on the first side of the COF; a conductivelayer disposed on the second surface of the second substrate; and aconductive adhesive electrically connected to the conductive layer andat least the first component of the at least one ground pad.